LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

Revision 1

April 26, 2005

TO:	Honorable Todd Staples, Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB1818 by Janek (Relating to the improvement and coordination of statewide efforts to detect, prepare for, and respond to certain emergencies.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1818, As Introduced: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2007.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2006	$0
2007	$0
2008	$0
2009	$0
2010	$0

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable (Cost) from STATE HIGHWAY FUND 6
2006	($939,967)
2007	($751,617)
2008	($769,617)
2009	($787,617)
2010	($805,617)

Fiscal Analysis

The bill requires the Division of Emergency Management in the Office of the Governor (division) to employ and train four Incident Management Teams (IMT).
 
The Governor's Office of Homeland Security will require local officials to collaborate in the development of regional mass evacuation plans that are compliant with the framework developed by the National Incident Management System, and consult with local officials to identify and upgrade hurricane evacuation systems.
 
The bill requires the Health and Human Services Commission to assist local officials to identify and maintain a list of persons with special needs who may require special assistance in the event of a catastrophic emergency and develop a plan to provide improved emergency evacuation assistance to persons with special needs.
 
The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to purchase and install real-time traffic counters, linked to local emergency operation centers and the Texas Infrastructure Protection Communications Center, on regional mass evacuation routes. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to purchase hurricane wind gauges and install the wind gauges in appropriate locations along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to install emergency shelter signs along planned regional mass evacuation routes.
                                    
The bill requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to develop and implement a regional unified command structure to plan for and conduct evacuations in hurricane evacuation areas. The bill requires DPS to report to the legislature and the governor the progress in improving and coordinating the hurricane planning and response efforts of designated hurricane evacuation areas.

Methodology

The bill requires the Division of Emergency Management in the Office of the Governor (division) to employ and train four Incident Management Teams (IMT). Each team will consist of 42 people, for a total of 168 team members consisting of current state agency personnel, local responders, and volunteers. Therefore, no fiscal impact for salaries and benefits is anticipated.  

According to DPS, the requirements to train four IMTs will be implemented with assistance from the Texas Forest Service and other response agencies and can be completed using existing personnel and resources.
 
The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to purchase and install real-time traffic counters, linked to local emergency operation centers and the Texas Infrastructure Protection Communications Center, on regional mass evacuation routes. Traffic counting equipment costs for one traffic count site is $19,341. This requirement would affect 185 traffic count sites, therefore a total cost of $3,578,085 is anticipated. These costs would be spread out over a 5-year period resulting in a $715,617 annual cost to Fund 006. It is estimated that utilities cost would also increase at an estimated cost $18,000 annually, for each increment of equipment installed.
 
The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to purchase and install hurricane wind gauges. It is estimated that an additional 12 wind gauges would be needed to fulfill the requirements of the bill. The cost of each wind gauge is estimated to be $10,000, therefore a $120,000 cost to Fund 006 is anticipated.
 
The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to install emergency shelter signs along planned regional mass evacuation routes. This would require 157 signs at a cost of $550 per sign, resulting in a total cost of $86,350.

Local Government Impact

There would be no significant fiscal impact to a governing body of a political subdivision to order evacuations or control access to a restricted area in the event of a natural disaster.

 

There would be some costs to political subdivisions to coordinate with the Texas Department of Transportation to identify or upgrade hurricane evacuation systems and with the Health and Human Services Commission to identify and maintain a list of persons who would need special assistance to evacuate in the event of a catastrophic emergency. These costs are not expected to be significant.

Source Agencies:

300 Trusteed Programs Within the Office of the Governor, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 405 Department of Public Safety, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 537 Department of State Health Services, 539 Department of Aging and Disability Services, 601 Department of Transportation

LBB Staff:

JOB, SD, SR, MS, SMi, KJG